Accurate and complete measurements of teeth characteristics, and diagnostics based on such measurements are important in the growing field of computational orthodontics and other computer aided dental treatment systems. Although various techniques for impression-based computational orthodontics using three-dimensional (“3-D”) models have been developed, the associated dental measurements are manually performed in most instances. For example, such dental measurements are typically obtained by an orthodontic practitioner based in large part on that particular orthodontic practitioner's experience, knowledge and subjective perception.
In addition to be time consuming, such measurement techniques are susceptible to subjective analysis and human error. As a result, the reliability of such manual techniques is less than ideal and potentially hinders the orthodontic treatment process. Further, potentially beneficial indices for orthodontic and dental assessment, such as Peer Assessment Ratings (PAR) indices, American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) discrepancy indices, and ABO objective grading systems and the like are not used as often as possible due to the difficulty in manual measurements and hand calculations. For example, the PAR index has traditionally been calculated by hand on dental casts using specially configured rulers, a very time consuming approach, significantly influenced by subjective perceptions and thus prone to inaccuracies and error.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to have methods and systems for providing optimum, objective diagnostics and treatment planning, as well as improved dental treatment evaluation and research.